The Gold Standard

"The Gold Standard" is the first of three interconnected novellas written by Leslie Charteris and included in the tenth Saint book Once More the Saint published in 1933. It had previously been published in the magazine Thriller as "The Gold Flood."

Plot
In Paris, Simon Templar finds a mortally wounded man who claims his brother can create gold. Upon returning to England, Templar finds himself pursued by the man's murderer. The man, known as Jones, kidnaps Templar's girlfriend, Patricia Holm, leading Templar to discover the truth about the alchemy, which results in the Saint choosing to become judge, jury and executioner for Jones. The leads to a narrow escape for Templar when Inspector Teal arrives on the scene. This story takes place two months after the events of the novella "The Melancholy Journey of Mr. Teal" from The Holy Terror, and includes considerable character development of both Teal and Holm. Holm is shown asserting herself more than in previous stories, challenging Templar about both his treatment of Teal in this and previous stories (asking Templar at one point when "open season" on Teal is expected to end), and at the end questions Templar's decision to kill Jones. Templar would go up against another would-be alchemist in "The Mixture As Before", a short story in Boodle.

Television adaptation
"The Gold Standard" was adapted as an episode of The Saint starring Roger Moore retitled "The Abductors" and aired on July 8, 1965, as part of the fourth season.